Here we go! Starting an ecycling business.

Hello All!

Over the last six months I have been voraciously reading everything I can on business and electronic scrapping and have finally taken the plunge into bootstrapping my own ecycling business. The information on this forum has been invaluable and has taken a lot of time to sort through and learn. But it has been worth it! So with things now moving I decided to start a thread on the forum to keep track of what I am doing, keep myself accountable, and let more experienced people tell me what I am doing right and wrong.

The idea started brewing in my mind last fall as a way to join my interests in technology, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. There was no way I was going to begin just as it was getting cold and the winter was coming up so I instead spent a bunch of time reading and researching. Now that it is finally getting warm up here in Wisconsin I've pulled the trigger and started moving forward.

So here is what has been done over the past two weeks: met with a number of businesses/nonprofits about future partnerships, put the word out to friends and family, formed an LLC, spoke with a trademark lawyer, repurposed my eBay account for reselling, started the search for a business mentor, completed the business plan, registered a website, spoke with a logo designer, and picked up about 150 pounds of electronic waste. There is a long way to go but I'm hoping I'm on the right track.

My intent is to go big within my local region. There was a comment by olddude on some thread I ran across where he talked about going big over the next 5 years before the ewaste landscape changes drastically. It was great advice. And, well, that's the plan. So I am planning for volume and also looking down the road to R2 and eStewards certification if the business pans out. I know its a ways out but you have to have a vision right?

Things I am learning:

It takes a ton of effort to start a business right (the intent is for this to be a sole source of income) and look at the big picture. However, don't miss the fact that only day-to-day scrapping is what will ultimately cause your business to succeed or fail.

You always have to be willing to adapt. My main business customer segment has shifted three times since I started planning and talking to many people. I now am pursuing a specific line of customers I never would have thought would be significant six months ago.

You can file an LLC yourself through the state and save tons of money over going to an attorney or using an online service.

Depending on how you are looking to brand your business, naming a business can be a pain. It takes a long time to get it right, but if you do it right you can generate tons of free advertising through word-of-mouth and a catchy/memorable name.

Always listen to advice from other people...even if you initially think it's worthless. At least evaluate it. I don't know everything for certain and I've learned many things from random people or gotten new ideas.

What's happening now?

I'm going back to a nonprofit this week with a proposal, which I need to write yet. So I've gotta nail down what I am going to offer them per pound to pick up community electronic waste drop-off. I think I can do about 20 cents a pound for desktops and 10 cents a pound for everything else, but I'm not sure yet. Am I on the right track? The biggest issue for me is how to handle CRT monitors and TVs. I want to accept them but what I would REALLY like to do is accept them for free. However, my current downstream supplier charges 10-12 cents per pound to accept the tubes. Plus I need to ship them there. I've been told I could never get enough value out of disassembly to cover the costs of disposing of the tubes. I've got a number of the threads here on the forum bookmarked regarding TV and monitor breakdown so I will be reading through them again but if anyone has any advice in this area I would appreciate hearing it.

Well, that's what I got to start off the journey. I'll answer any questions I can. Any and all advice is appreciated. I hope to learn more and share what I learn with all of you who have indirectly been incredibly helpful. Now I am off to unload a bunch of stuff out of my car to break down and research. Take care!

Good luck. And keep us updated. I am interested in how it works out for you, as I have "sorta" the same plan.

I went about it the exact opposite way as you. FIRST, I started small with nothing. Learned, made mistakes, built business relationships, got income and a steady supply of inventory. NOW that I have the basics established and realize it is a probable business plan, I will move forward.

Like mikeinreco said, It seems you may be going in to fast and making it too difficult for yourself. Going all in like that is a gamble. I don't know much about you, but hopefully you have your head on straight.

Thanks for the concern guys! And for keep me on the path! Yeah...I have my head on straight!

I've done a lot of research simply to make sure I am going down the right path. But I am starting small with negligible investment. Now my main plan is to get that steady stream coming in. Luckily for me I have a wealth of contacts from my current job as a system manager. Also, much of the time in the last six months has been insuring that there is a probable business plan. So yeah...in that way we did it the opposite. Which is great because you have experience I don't have!

Offering 20 cents on computers is in the ballpark. Offering 10 cents on everything else may be a gamble. Think of items like printers, keyboards, office phones, photocopiers, etc especially in large quantities. Those may loose money. I would offer to pick those up for free. Good luck with your business, I also did it the other way around, start with nothing, build contacts, gain experience, etc. Now my part time business is making nearly as much as my well paid full time job.

Also if you are buying by weight you probably need a state certified scale that needs to be checked yearly.

If your going to buy e-waste only buy things like computers and servers. Printers,copiers,vcr's and the like are NOT worth .10# unless you can resell them, Most people are looking to get rid of these kind of things and will be happy to have someone take it off there hands. You would be surprised how much free stuff is out there. Even at .10# for computer towers will be hard to make any money as scrap but if you can turn them whole for a profet you will do better. Don't forget now that you have an llc big brother and the IRS,EPA will be keeping an eye on you.

Havok, looks like you have things well planned out. I always think that is a good start. I guess there is no right or wrong way and it is how we deal with each situation as they occur. A plan is only good if it is well executed. Otherwise, they are just words on paper.

Like what the others say, keep scrapping!

And learning from this forum is definitely the right way!

Hey guys,

So things have taken a bit of a back seat due to other life circumstances but I am continuing forward. The business model continues to be refined as I go forward and learn more and more. I have veered away from partnerships with second-hand stores for now in an effort to get the business moving without getting into any sort of contractual agreement or expectation. So I've been handing out business cards and stopping in at random places and that's led to some interesting things. The biggest thing I continue to learn though is that I have a ton to learn!

Last week I walked into a place in town and walked out with four boxes of non-working XBOX 360s and Playstation 2s. Good stuff! But I am realizing that no matter how much I read on the forum, grading boards seems like a black art to me. So below is an example of what a board looks like on a 360 with and without heat sinks. How would you grade this? What I am really confused about is sometimes people talk about low, mid, and high grade. But other times they are talking about large and small socket boards. What about circuit boards that don't fit into motherboard, fingerboard, and ram categories? Perhaps there is an awesome thread I have missed.

Tomorrow a coworker is bringing a number of intact flat screen monitors and servers for me to deal with. Should be fun!